Selective automatic overload release



De@ refrn Em. 2,225,470

snnncnvr: AUTOMATIC ovEnLoAv RELEASE vmm1 Nov. 1a, 1937 -A 4 sheets-sheet 1 uw. i7, 1940.

N. I. ETTEN Erm. 2,225,470 snnzc'rxvnmrounc om Msn Filed Nov. 1a, 1937 4 sheets-sheet 2 Dec. 17, 1940. N. L. ETTEN ETAL 2,225,470

SELECTIVE AUTOMATIC OVERLOAD RELEASE Filed Nov. 18, 1937 4 sheets-sheet Y @www Patented De.17,194o i t 2,225,470

UNITI-:USTATI-:s PATIENT oFFlcE l ssmcrrvn AUTOMATIC ovEaLoAD RELEASE Nicholas L. Etten, Waterloo, Iowa, and Adolph J. l Snow, Wilmette, Ill. A

application November 1s, 1931, semina. 115,216

5 claims. (c1. ca -259) This invention relates to a wringer 'roll prescase of an emergency, as, for example, in the sure release and more particularly to an emerevent that the operators `hand is caught by the gency or overload release mechanism for power wringer rollsthe manual operation must be acoperated types of wringers. While the invention compllshed almost instantaneously if the pres- 5 will be disclosed in connection with wringers and sure is to be released before the operator has been 5 has many adv-antages making it particularly useseriously injured. It should also be taken into ful for wringer purposes, it has a broader applicaconsideration that at the time of such emergency tion and may be incorporated in other types of the operator will, of course, be in pain and may machines employing two or more rolls for th lack the presence of mind to operate any manual exertion of pressure. i release mechanism. In this connection it should 10 One of the primary objectives ofthe invention also be noted that Vthe operator may be unis to provide means whereby the pressure on familiar with the release mechanism on the mawringer rolls and the like may be substantially chine and, therefore, may be unable to operate instantaneously released in case of an emerit.` or a child may be operating the machine witht gency or other need, the means being of such out the knowledge of the eXistenee 01 Operation 15 character that the releasing may be accomplished of the release mechanism. In the event that the automatically. operators hand should become caught between Another important object of the invention is the Wringer relis. it may happen that in e Danie to provide a, Wringer mechanism having an emerstricken attempt to Withdarw the onehand the gency release of such nature that it may be operother hand may also be caught between the rolls 20 ated automatically or manually at the will of the and thus prevent. or at least' greatly hinder the operator, operation of any form of a manual release;

Another important object of the invention is In view of these facts many autematic types 0f to provide means whereby pressure 0n wringer release have been Constructed, but a5 s. lllle these J5 rolls and the like may be substantially instantahave met with little success for several reasons. 25 neously released in case of emergency or other Certain types 0f eutemetie release have been so need, the means being of such character that the adjusted that they would autometiesily reieese releasing mechanism is actuated by a certain the pressure upon the rolls in the event that obmovement of the pressure ro11s, jects of greater than the minimum thickness A further object of `the invention is to provide should pass between the rolls. These have a dis- 30 an overload release of such design that it may be tinct disadvantage in that at times it becomes rendered inoperative at will. necessary t0 Wiine heavy Seeds. es. i501' exemple.

Another important object of the invention is blankets or rugs, and if the automatic releasing to provide a release mechanism for pressure rolls mechanism is s0 adjusted that it Will release in which may be operated by manual means, or by the event that the operator's hand should become 35 automatic overload means, the mechanism being Caught between the r01ls`,it will be found that the of such design that the automatic releasing wringer is not capable of handling any Seeds eX- means may be rendered inoperative to permit cept thOSe 0f mlnlmum thlCkneSS. other fl'ms operation of the device under heavy 1Qads Of autOmalC release mechanisms have ttempted Another object is to provide an emergency ret0 piece releasing bars in close proximity to the 40 leasing means for pressure rolls which is simple TOUS in Such a manner that buik? articles Pessin construction, dependable in operation and ecoing through the rolls will strike and actuate the nomiooi in manufacture, release bars. This type of release has also proven In therman'iuacture of wrlngers, and particu.. Of llttle Vllle fOr the IBaSOnS Outlined bOVe.

iai-1y power operated wringen, it has been ous- In the present invention these and other dim- 45 tomary to provide emergency release mechanisms Clllties are OverCOme, and the aforementioned 0bas a safety measure, since the pressure exerted Jeets are accomplished as Wiii be Seen by referby the wringer rolls is great enough to bo danence to the drawings in which a preferred emgerous to the operator. Ordinarily these emerbediment 0f the invention hes been shOW'ngency release mechanisms take the form of a Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a typical wringer 50 manual control. such as, for example, a bar, mechanism constructed in accordance with the knob or push button, and these may be manuprinciples of this invention and having certain ally actuated by the operator to release the presparts broken away; o sure rolls. It should be noted, however. that Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view taken on the these means require manual operation and in line II-II of Fig. 1; 55

Fig. 3 is a detail plan-sectional view taken on the line III-III of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the wringer showing the parts thereof in their operative position;

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view of the release control knob and is taken on line V-V of Fig. 8;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the wringer similar to Fig. 4, but showing the parts in their released position;

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view taken on the line VII-VII of Fig. 4;

Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view taken on the line VIII- VIII of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 9 is a detail bottom plan section taken on the line IX-IX of Fig. 8.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention l the wringer frame is composed of a bottom channel I6 carrying upright end channels II and I2. The upright end channel II is aiiixed to the bottom channel I6 at the extreme left end of the latter, as viewed in the drawings, and is secured thereto by means of rivets I3 while channel frame I2 is secured to the right hand end of bottom channel I6 by rivets I4. A pair of guide rails I5 and I6 are carried within the upright channel II and are secured thereto by means 'of rivets I1. These guide rails I5 and I6 are provided with inturned portions I9 and 20 adapted to be received in notches in the bearing members 2I and 22 and serve to guide the bearing members during vertical sliding movements of the latter. A pair of similar guide rails 23 are carried within the channelA I2 and aresecured thereto by means of rivets 24. I'he guide rails 23 include inturned portions 25which act as vertical guidesfor bearings 26 and 21 at the right-hand end of the wringer. A lower wringer roll 36 is journaled lin the bearings 22 and 21, while an upper wringer roll 3| is journaled in the bearings 2i and 26. The shaft 32 of the lower roll 36 extends beyond the bearing .22 and is adapted to engage a driving means of any customary form. A pair of drain boards 35 are positioned on eitherv side of the lower Awringer roll 36 and are secured to the end channels II and I2 in any suitable manner, as, for example, by screws 36. The bottom channel I0 is perforated, as shown at 31, to allow Water falling from the rolls 36 and 3l to pass therethrough and to deiiect to either side of the machine by means of a iiipper 36 mounted on brackets 39 and 40 by pivot pins 4I. The brackets 39 and 46 are secured tothe bottom channel I6 by any suitable,

means, as, for example, by rivets 42. The bracket 46 carries a supporting bracket 43 and the end channel II carries a bracket portion 44. These brackets 43 and 44 may be bolted to other mechanism (not shown) as, for example, to the customary power head, in such a manner as to support the wringer frame. A pair of adjusting screws 45 are positioned beneath the bearings 22 and 21 to adjust the elevation thereof and may be locked in a predetermined position by the nuts 46. f

Atop channel 46 carries a pressure adjusting cap 49 positioned directly over the rolls 36 and 3i. 'I'his pressure adjustingvcap 49 includes a hub portion 56 and hasa tension adjusting plate 5I secured thereto by a screw 52. A washer 53 spaces the plate 5I from the channel 46 and facilitates the rotation of the plate 5I by means oi.' the adjustingcap 49. The tension adjusting plate 5I is provided with a plurality of notches 54 of varying height. These notches 54 are adapted to engage a leaf spring 55 extending from the bearing member 2i to the bearing member 26 and secured to these bearings by means of plates 56 and 51 riveted to the bearings and releasably secured over the ends of spring 55. By rotating the adjusting cap 49, the plate 5I will be rotated and the leaf spring 55 will be engaged by a notch of predetermined height in the plate 5I. It will be seen that the height of the notch 54 will determine the degree of iiexing of the spring 55 and, consequently, the eii'ective operating pressure between the rolls 36 and 6I.

An anchor pin 56 is riveted in the top channel 46 and is adapted to engage a notch 69 in the vertical end channel I2. A cross pin 66 is riveted in the opposite walls of the end channel Il and a reset link 6I is pivoted thereon. A reset handle 62 is mounted on a pivot pin 63 riveted in the opposite walls of the top channel 46. This reset handle 62 carries a pair ci ears 64 pivotally connected to the reset link 6I by a pin65. A latch 66 is pivotally mounted on the latch pivot 61 which may be riveted in the opposite walls 46* and 46h of the top channel 46. The latch 66 carries ear portions 66 and oneoi these may be punched, as at 69, to accommodate one of the ends of a spring 16. The spring 16 is preferably supported intermediate its ends on the latch pivot 61 and at its opposite end is anchored on a cross pin 1I. The spring 16 normally tends to urge the latch 66 in a clockwise direction about pivot '61,- as viewed in Figs. 1, 4 and 6 oi the drawings, and so as to engage a latch pin 12 which is preferably riveted between two down-turned flanges 13 on the reset handle 62. A spacer 14 is carried by the latch pivot 61 and by a cross pin 15 and a pair of retaining links 16 are carried by the cross pin 15 and are adapted to engage certain other mechanisms (not shown) in such a manner as to urge the top channel and parts mounted thereon to the right as viewed in the drawings at the time the latch 66 releases the latch pin 12. It will be seen that this action is edective to release the anchor pin 56 from the notch 66.

A pair of latch trip arms 11 and 16 are also pivotally'mounted intermediate their ends upon the pin 63 and are connected at one end of each by a latch trip bracket 19 secured in place by means of rivets 66. At the opposite ends of the latch trip arms end portions 6I and 62 engage notches 63 in the ear portions 66 of the latch 66. It will be seen from this construction that any upward force exerted upon the release bar bracket 19 will move the end portions 62 of the latch trip arms 16 downwardly against the ear portions 66 of the latch 66 and cause the latch 66 to pivot about the pin 61 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in .the drawings. This pivotal movement against the action of the springy 16 will be eiective to release the latch pin 12 carried by the reset handle 62 and allow the reset handle 62 to swing into the positiony shown in Fig. 6. This action breaks the retaining connection as established between the reset handle 62, pin 65, link 6I and the pin 60 and permits the entire top channel 48 and all parts associated therewith to rise. As will be evident from the examination of Fig. 6 the anchor pin 56 also releases from the notch 56 and the plate 5I rises from the leaf spring 55. In this position the pressure between the rolls 36 and 6I is completely released and the upper roll 3i is held in the position shown by gravity only.

A pair of release bars 64 and' 65 are carried by release bar brackets 66 and 61 at one end and by somewhat similar brackets 66 and 69 at the opposite end., The brackets 66 and 61 are chanaccade? thereafterplaced in position to engage notches l 94 on the brackets 88 and 81 land thus prevent the removal of these brackets from the top channel 48. At the lower ends of the'retaining clips 93 ears 95 are provided. These ears 95 pass through openings 96 inthe top channel andV arey then bent over to prevent their displacement. A i f s [no ysubstantialv movement at the center and has 15 pair of springs 91 arevmounted on pins 98 and serve to urge the release bars 84 andn85 outwardly and upwardly. The release brackets and 09 at the opposite end of the release bars are identical in construction with the exception that these do not include the operating end portions 90 and 9|.

As will be seen from the examination of Fig. 4 and Fig. '1, the operating end portions 90 of the release bar brackets and 81 are positioned directly below the latch trip bracket 19. From this construction it will be seen that any inward force exerted upon the release brackets 84 or 85 Will cause them to pivot on the notches 94 of the release bar brackets 80 and 81, this causing the operating end portions to rise and engage the latch trip bracket 19. As hereinbefore explained, this action will release the latch 65 and thus release the pressure from the rolls 30 and 3|.

In order that this object may be accomplished automatically in the event of an emergency, an overload slide rod |00 is mounted within the top channel 48 and secured for pivotal movement by means of clips |0| and |02 riveted to the top channel. The end portions of this overload rod are bent as shown in the drawings to provide release triggers |03 and |04 which are positioned directly above the leaf spring 55. It may now be seen that in the event that anyobject of unusual thickness should'come between the rolls 30 and 3|, the upper roll 3| will rise against the tensionof the leaf spring 55. The leaf spring 55 will then contact one or both of the release trig gers |03 and |04 and move them upwardly about the overload slide rod |00 as a pivot. This action will cause the release trigger |04 to bear against the lower surface of the latch trip bracket 19 and release the mechanism as hereinbefore described.

The machine as thus far described will be seen to have several important safety factors, but it is also apparent that it would not be satisfactory for wringing heavy materials of such bulk as to cause material separation between the rolls 30 and 3|. For this reason aselector button |05 is mounted in the top of the top channel 48. By reference to Figs. 8 and 9 it will be seen that this selector button includes an enlarged bearing portion |08, passing through the top channel 48 and a saddle |01 eccentrically mounted thereon by means of a screw |08. The saddle |01 engages the release trigger |03 and rotation of the selector button |05 will thus slide the overload slide rod |00 longitudinally and remove the release trigger |04 from its position under the latch trip bracket 19 to the dotted line position indicated at |041. When this has been done, it will be apparent that the automatic releasing mechanism will be ina releases: the mechanism, andthe devies win therefore be capable of handling bulky materials.` A balldetenti is provided in the selector but-jmtonj|08 in` order to maintain theparts inthe position desired by the operator. It shouldbeb noticedv that when the overload 'slide rod has been moved to its inoperative position the rolls 30 and 3| maystill be instantly released by op` .erationoifv the release bars 34 or 85.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention l0 the release'ltnggers |03 and |04 are so positioned as to contact the leaf spring 55 at points spaced between the plate 5| and the bearings 2| and 24. It willbeunderstood that since the spring 5l has its maximumfmovement at the end portions engaging the bearings 2| and 28, the degree of sensitivity of the device will be determined by the positioning of the triggers |03 .and |04 along the spring.

If the triggers |03 and |04 are positioned near the extreme ends of the spring they will be actuated by an extremely small degree of movement between the rolls 30 and 3|, but if the triggers |03 and |04 are positioned farther inwardly toward the plate 5|, the amount of movement of the roll 3| necessary to eii'ect a release will become correspondingly greater. The positioning of these triggers |09 and |04 maybe made adjustable if desired, or they may be fixed in predetermined position at the time of manufacture of the device, as shown in the illustrated embodiment of the invention.

It should also be noted that if the release trig gers are positioned at the extreme ends of the spring their operation will not be affected by any adjustment of the spring tension as accomplished by the rotation of the adjusting cap 49 and adjusting plate 5|, as hereinbefore described. In the position shown however, any adjustment of the adjusting cap 49 will cause the center portion of the leaf spring to assume a dierent position, in accordance with the elevation of the notch 54 of the adjusting plate Il. This will vary the initial spacing between the release trig- 45 gersv |03 and |04 slightly, and thus accomplish a manual control of the sensitivity of the automatic release mechanism.

While it is believed that the operation of the device will be apparent from the foregoing de-V scription, it will here `be briefly reviewed.

Whenthe machine is adjusted to release automatically, any bulky object coming between the rolls 30 and 3| `will cause them to separate and cause the leaf spring 85 to contact;v one or both of the release triggers |03 and |04. The release trigger |04 will then contact the latch trip bracket, release the latch 53 from the latch pin 12, and allow the reset handle 02 to be thrown upwardly by the tension of the leaf spring I5, operating through the reset pivot I3 and through the link 0|. Simultaneously, the link 10 will throw the top channel 40 toward the right and release the anchor pin 53 from the notch Il. The

rolls 90 and 3| are now completely released and di! the .mechanism must be reset by positioning anchor pin 50 in the notch 09 and manually swinging the 4release handle 02 downwardly until the latch pin 12 is engaged by the latch l0. If the selector button lllis in its other position, 70 this automatic operation will not take place and the pressure between the rolls 30 and 3| can be released only by manual operation of the release i bars 84 and Il.

While I have illustrated and described what is 75 at present a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be appreciated that itis susceptible of embodiment in other wringers and in other forms as well as susceptible' of many modiilcations, all without departing from the invention spirit or the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a wringer mechanism including a frame, a plurality of spring-urged pressure rolls and a pressure release mechanism; the combination of a plurality of bearings for the pressure rolls, a fiat leaf-spring extending between and adapted to act on said bearings, a spring anchor for said spring, an automatic release control comprising a rod extending longitudinally of said spring and carrying a plurality of triggers adapted to be engaged by said spring to impart rocking motion to said control rod, and a manually operable selector button mounted on the outer surface of the wringer frame and adapted to move said rod between an inoperative position and an operative position wherein the rocking motion imparted by the spring will cause said control rod to engage and'actuate the pressure release mechanism of 'the wringer.

2. In a wringer mechanism including a frame, a plurality of spring-urged pressure rolls and a pressure release mechanism; the combination of a plurality of bearings forthe pressure rolls, a fiat leaf-spring extending between and adapted to act on said bearings, a spring anchor for said spring, an automatic release control extending longitudinally of said spring within said wringer frame and adapted to be engaged by saidspring at one of a plurality of points to impart motion to said control, and a manually operable selector mounted on the outer surface of the wringer frame and adapted to move said control between an inoperative position and an operative position wherein the motion imparted by the spring will cause said control to engage and actuate the pressure release mechanism of the wringer.

`3. In a wringer, a lower frame, a pair of cooperating rolls, spring means to urge said rolls into pressure relationship, an upper frame including a top surface and downwardly extending `iianges adapted to constitute a housing for said spring; locking means to secure said upper frame to said lowerI frame; a release means for said lock, and manually operable controls to Iactuate said release; an automatic release control rod extending longitudinally within said frame and in parallel-spaced relationship with said spring, and adapted to be actuated by said spring whenever said spring iiexes beyond a predetermined point;A means operatively interconnecting said automatic control rod with said locking means whereby the aforementioned locking means may be released responsive to movement of the control rod; and a manually operable selector control comprising a button extending outside of said top frame whereby the operative interconnection between said automatic control rod and.

said locking means may be disengaged to render said control rod inoperative.

4. In a wringer, a lower frame, a pair of cooperating rolls, spring means to urge said rolls into pressure relationship, an upper frame including a top surface and downwardly extending flanges adapted to constitute a housing for said frame whereby the operative interconnection between said automatic control member and said locking means may be disengaged to render said control member inoperative.

5. In a wringer, a pair of cooperating rolls, spring means Ato urge said rolls into pressure relationship, a frame including a top and side surfaces adapted to completely enclose and constirtute a housing for'said spring; locking means to secure said rolls in pressure engagement; a release means for said lock, and manually operable controls to actuate said release; an automatic release control member extending longitudinally within said frame and in parallelspaced relationship with said spring, and including trigger. portions adapted to be actuated by said spring whenever said spring flexes beyond a predetermined point; means operatively interconnecting said automatic control member with said locking means whereby the aforementioned locking means may be released responsive to` movement of the control member; and a manually operable selector control comprising' a button extending outside of said frame whereby the operative interconnection between said automatic control member and said locking means may be disengaged to render said control member inoperative.

NICHOLAS L. E'I'IEN.

ADOLPH J. SNOW. 

